Road Warriors Weekly

This past weekend the Road Warriors returned home for a 3 game weekend playing the Orlando Solar Bears and the Florida Everblades twice. The Road Warriors collected 5 of 6 possible points on the weekend.

Friday vs. Orlando Solar Bears

The Road Warriors started off the game on a tear as Scott Pitt opened the scoring 3:45 into the period. The power play goal was the first of the night for Pitt as he added his second 5:11 later. The final Road Warriors goal of the night was tipped in by Kenndal McArdle on the power play. The Road Warriors finished the game 2 for 7 on the man advantage.

Orlando would do all the scoring from that moment on. Scott Tanksi was the first to put the Solar Bears on the board with a goal just shy of three minutes later of the McArdle goal. Mike Liambas scored the second goal 6:30 into the third period. The 3-2 lead would hold until the final minutes for the Greenville Road Warriors. Rob Kwiet's interference minor would trigger the Solar Bears only power play goal of the night. Ryan Ginand tied the game with 55 seconds left in the game and forced overtime. Orlando took control of the extra time from the start and scored 42 seconds in. The ECHL October Player of the Month, Nick Peterson, would score the game winner. John Curry would receive the win in net stopping 28 of 32 shots. Scott Stajcer took the loss stopping 28 of 31.

Saturday vs. Florida Everblades

Florida stormed out of the gates scoring 31 seconds into the game. Brandon MacLean scored what would be Florida's only goal with assists going to Bobby Raymond and Matt Marquardt. First period action went to the direction of Greenville from then on. The Road Warriors outshot Florida 13-6 for the period but still trailed going into the locker rooms.

The Everblades entered the second period with powerplay but was not able to convert. Neither team notched a power play goal on the night with both teams had three opportunities. Kenndal McArdle scored the game tying goal in the second period with assists given to Brendan Wong and Marc-Olivier Vallerand. Wong and Vallerand each extended their point streak to 3 games. The second period was tilted in the favor of Florida as they outshot the Road Warriors 14-5.

The two teams upped the intensity for the third period but remained tied until 2:23 left. The Road Warriors had a 2 on 1 break and Brendan Connolly broke the tie with a shot that beat goaltender Pat Nagle blocker high. Wong added an insurance goal putting his fifth of the season behind the Florida netminder.

Nathan Lieuwen got the win in net stopping a barrage of Florida scoring opportunities. Lieuwen was the second star of the game and stopped 31 of 32 shots. Nagle took the loss saving 24 of 27 shots.

Sunday vs. Florida Everblades

For the second straight game, Florida started the scoring early with a goal by Matt Marquardt. Goaltender Nathan Lieuwen stopped an initial shot diving through the crease knocking the puck out of mid air with his stick. Marquardt found the puck in his skates and lifted it over the netminder. He would be found on the scoring sheet two other times as he finished the game with one goal and two assists. Kendall McArdle tied the game as he and his linemates Brandon Wong and Marc-Olivier Vallerand begun a huge night. The Everblades scored in the final minutes of the first with a powerplay goal by David Rutherford. The Everblades would receive another powerplay that would carry over to the second.

The Road Warriors would kill the rest of the penalty to start the second period and grab the momentum in the process. Brandon Wong scored halfway through the second to tie the game. McArdle and Vallerand both assisted on the goal to push the game at a 2-2 standstill. Just 2:46 later, Vallerand would score his fourth of the year and third point of the night. Shortly after the goal Vallerand would drop the gloves with Charles Landry to complete the Gordie Howe Hat Trick.

The Road Warriors began the third period with a one goal lead and extended it to two at 6:11. Shayne Wiebe would score the eventual game winner on the powerplay with assists going to Rob Kwiet and Scott Pitt. Florida would stir up a possible comeback attempt with a goal by Bobby Raymond who tailed his third point of the game. Lieuwen would stack up against the Everblades final effort to record the win stopping 32 of 35 shots including 13 in the final frame. Muse took the loss saving 19 of 23 shots.

Week Ahead

Tuesday morning Greenville will continue the stretch of 7 games played in 9 days. The Road Warriors will travel to Indiana to play the Evansville IceMen for a two game series. Tuesday's game begins at 10:45 a.m. ET and Wednesday night's faceoff is scheduled for 8:15 p.m. ET. After a two game road trip to Evansville, the Road Warriors will be back in action on the EquilifeMD Rink in the BI-LO Center this Friday and Saturday against Cincinnati.

Friday's game is presented by BB&T. First 1,000 fans will receive a free Drinking Vessel presented by Rock101 and 93.3 The Planet. Hockey Happy Hour will return this Friday starting at 5 p.m. WITH FREE FOOD COURTESY OF THE TOM'S BBQ, DISCOUNTED DRINKS AND LIVE ENTERTIANMENT PROVIDED BY ROCK 101. The first 125 fans get a free BB&T T-Shirt. Also, show your BI-LO Bonuscard at the box office two house before the game and receive a buy one get one free ticket offer. Face-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. On Saturday night the first 1,000 fans will receive a free inflatable warrior sword presented by Rock101, 93.3 The Planet and B93.7.

Streaks and Stats

- Brandon Wong, Marc-Olivier Vallerand and Rob Kwiet have a 4 game point streak.

-In the past 5 games the Road Warriors are 4-0-1

-Greenville has 5 players that are averaging a point per game pace. (Marc-Olivier Vallerand, Brandon Wong, Shayne Wiebe, Scott Pitt and Kenndal McArdle)

Transactions

The Road Warriors only transaction this week was announcing the Connecticut Whale assigned defenseman Sebastien Piche to the team.

Piche, a fourth-year pro who signed an American Hockey League contract with the Whale August 13, had missed the Whale's first seven games of the season due to injury. He spent last season between the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL and the Florida Everblades. The defenseman had 11 points in 18 games during last year's ECHL playoffs during the Everblades' Kelly Cup Championship run.